5 things to know about the Vanderbilt Commodores

1. Hall of Famer, Jr.

The best player for this Vanderbilt Commodore team is sophomore guard, Scotty Pippen Jr. The son of NBA Hall of Famer, Scotty Pippen, the younger Pippen leads the team in scoring, assists, and steals. Standing at 6’1″ and 170 pounds, Pippen is averaging 22.6 points, which ranks second in the SEC and is tied for 10th in the country. On top of scoring, he averages 4.6 assists, good for third in the conference, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.9 steals, which ranks just outside the top five in the conference. There’s no doubt that Pippen is one of the best players in the Southeastern Conference and will be a tough assignment for the combo of Devin Askew and Davion Mintz tonight.

Pippen will be a volume shooter tonight against the Cats, as he averages nearly 16 field goal attempts per game, twice taking at least 20 shots this season. He shoots over six times from three-point land per contest, hitting 39.5% on the year. He has only once scored less than 18 points on the season, scoring 25 or more four times, and once hitting 30 points. The two issues that could slow down Pippen would be turnovers and fouls. He’s averaging nearly four turnovers per game and has had three or more fouls in three of the last four games. In two games against Kentucky last season, Pippen combined for 25 points and 8 assists.

2. Sophomore number two

While Scotty Pippen Jr. may be the unquestioned best player on the floor for Vanderbilt every game, Dylan Disu would rank as the second in command. Another sophomore, Disu measures 6’9″ and 220 pounds, starting at the four for the Commodores. Disu is second on the team in scoring at 11.4 per game and first on the team in rebounding at 8.9 per game. His rebounding ranks him tied for first in the Southeastern Conference. The forward also leads the team in blocks at one per game, to go along with averaging one steal as well.

Pippen has led the team in scoring in six of the team’s seven games, and Disu took home the scoring crown in the seventh. Despite his size, he doesn’t force the issue in the paint on the offensive side as much as you’d think, only getting to the free throw line three times a game, hitting 61.9% on the year. In fact, he averages more threes attempted per game than free throws, hitting 32.1% from three on the year. If Kentucky can stifle an offensive threat from Disu, then Pippen becomes the only player that should be able to beat the Cats on that end of the floor. Last season, Disu had two double-doubles against the Cats, as well as tallying six total blocks over the two match ups.

3. Common enemy

One similarity between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Vanderbilt Commodores this season is that both teams had the Richmond Spiders on their non-conference schedule. More so than just facing Richmond as a common opponent, both Kentucky and Vandy lost to the Spiders in convincing fashion. Kentucky took a four point lead into the halftime break, before being outscored by 16 in the second half, while Vanderbilt was never close with Richmond, losing by 24 at the half and closing out the game in an 11-point loss.

Both the Wildcats and the Commodores turned it over 15 times against Richmond, both struggled to score from the perimeter, and neither could score off of assists. One thing that sticks out for Vanderbilt is that they only had four players score against Richmond, two starters and two subs. Three starters went scoreless, combining to shoot just four times, while three bench players combined for seven shots, totaling an 0-11 make from the field outside of the four scorers.

4. Finding an identity

One of the major problems to start the season for Vanderbilt is that Head Coach Jerry Stackhouse hasn’t been able to find an identity for his squad. Sitting at 4-3 through seven games, the Commodores have run out five different starting lineups to try to find a a consistent answer to their problems. They have one stud offensively, but the rest of the team is just so-so, and on the defensive side, the team isn’t much to write home about either. Finding an identity on either the offensive or defensive end will be crucial to finding success in conference play for the Commodores.

The reason for the constant change in starting five is the struggle to excel in any major category. Vanderbilt ranks 172nd in the country in three-point percentage, but they take almost 28 of them per game, which is 20th in the country. Overall shooting doesn’t improve, as they sit at 177th in the country. Defensively is as average as the offense, as the Commodores are 120th in points allowed per game and 201st in opponent field goal percentage. The stat sheet doesn’t get stuffed for Vandy either, as Isaiah Jackson averages more blocks per game than the entire Vanderbilt roster combined. The Commodores are 204th in the nation in blocks per game and 140th in steals.

5. Another SEC streak

When the Cats beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, it marked 14 games in a row that Kentucky had defeated Mississippi State. Tonight, when the Cats face off with the Commodores, Kentucky goes for their ninth consecutive win over Vanderbilt. The current streak of eight wins is the longest win streak against Vanderbilt since the early 1990s, which reached 18 wins.

Second only to Tennessee in total times facing off against Kentucky, Vanderbilt trails the all-time series 149-47, with the Cats pushing the lead to triple digits two seasons ago. A loss to Vandy tonight would be the first time Kentucky has lost to the Commodores since February of 2016 and the first loss to Vandy at Rupp Arena since January of 2007. Coach Cal has never lost to Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena, and the average margin of victory for Kentucky in the ten wins is over 8 points. Kentucky sits as an 11.5 point favorite over Vandy tonight.

Go Cats. Beat Commodores.

@BrettBibbinsKSR